Subway filed a class-action lawsuit Monday alleging that the chain’s advertising “grossly exaggerates” the amount of meat and cheese in its sandwiches.
The lawsuit, on behalf of Queens resident Anna Tollison, asks a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to certify the claims as a class action.
Ms. Tollison bought a steak and cheese sandwich for $7.61 at a Subway in New York in August, claiming the chain’s advertising contained at least 200% more meat than she and other consumers ended up receiving. He claimed to have noticed that the sandwich was being displayed.
The complaint alleges that photos of the sandwiches used in Subway’s marketing falsely advertise the amount of meat in the steak and cheese sandwich.
Subway, which has 37,000 stores in the U.S., was acquired by Atlanta-based private equity firm Rourke Capital in April.
The suit alleges that Subway, best known for its foot-long sandwiches, uses similar tactics on “many other sandwiches,” including its cheesy garlic steak.
According to the complaint, the advertisements are “unfair and economically harmful to consumers, as they receive products of significantly lower value than what is advertised.”
He added that this is very worrying as low-income subway users are facing financial hardship due to inflation and rising food prices.
However, similar lawsuits filed by the same law firm against McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell were dismissed just last year. A similar lawsuit against Burger King is pending in federal court in Miami.
Subway was also hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that its one-foot sandwiches were less than a foot long. In 2017, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, stating, “Seeking only profits that are of no value to the class and only obtaining fees for class attorneys is tantamount to a racket and should be dismissed immediately.”
A year ago, a federal judge in Wisconsin issued a settlement requiring Subway to adopt quality control measures consistent with “the realities of baking bread” so it can serve 6- or 12-inch sandwiches in that length. He said he approved it.
A few years ago, a court in the Republic of Ireland ruled that the bread served at Subway could not actually be defined as bread because of its high sugar content.
This article subheading was amended on October 30, 2024. A previous version read that Anna Tollison claimed the sandwich she received contained “200% less” meat than advertised. As the article correctly reports, she claims that the advertised products are shown “200% more,” which equates to receiving approximately 67% less.
